2:45
by jaimeekate
Summary: Quintis short - Happy and Toby have a decision to make regarding their secret.


**I DO NOT OWN SCORPION. All characters are owned by CBS.**

At 2:30 sharp, Happy set down her hammer and walked straight out the back door of the garage. Toby looked up when he heard the door click shut and his eyes darted to the clock. His heart started beating quickly as he watched the second hand tick by - _15 minutes_.

He was increasingly impatient and the longer he watched the clock, the slower time seemed to pass. Toby turned his attention to the other Scorpion members in the garage; Sylvester was scribbling on his chalk board, Walter was upstairs, and Paige was flipping through manilla folders on her desk, headphones in and her head bobbing along to a song Toby could not hear. They all seemed to be immersed in their own projects, but still Toby would be careful as to not draw any attention to himself. Toby's eyes switched from the clock on the wall to his watch, as if the time would have magically gone by doing so. He picked up a few loose papers off his desk and pretended to be interested in them, but they turned out to be a poor way to distract him. Toby twiddled a pen between his fingers and clicked it open and closed a few times before Sylvester turned to him and told him to cut the noise.

"Sorry," Toby spit out and dropped the pen. He looked to his watch again - _4 minutes_. He could feel his chest swell with excitement and he had to fight to keep his face straight, not that anybody else was really paying any attention to him. But still, he had promised that he wouldn't ruin this, so he tried harder to contain his emotion. He counted down the seconds in his head. _270, 269, 268, 267_ _…_

As soon as the second hand reached the top of the clock and the minute hand moved from 2:44 to 2:45, Toby was out of his seat and making a move towards the door. He reminded himself to slow his breathing and his strides. He headed straight out the back door, looking right first, towards the street, then to the left down the alleyway. On his left, Happy leaned against the brick wall, her left leg kicked up and her arms crossed. His lips broke into the widest grin upon seeing her.

"Wow, you didn't miss a minute -" Happy began to speak but Toby interrupted her with a hungry kiss. He pushed her into the wall and deepened the kiss. Happy's words were lost in her throat as she eagerly returned the passion. She dragged her hands through his hair, let her fingers glide down the back of his neck and wrap around him, pulling herself closer. When finally the two had decided they needed air, they unraveled, panting slightly and flushed with color.

"I've been waiting all day to do that." Said Toby, planting a kiss on her neck as she leaned back against the wall, catching her breath. He steadied himself with one stiff arm pushing against the wall near Happy's head as he buried his head in her collarbone.

"You couldn't have waited until tonight? We're going to get caught," said Happy between deep breaths. Toby huffed out a small laugh and his warm breath on her skin sent shivers through her.

"Let them catch us." He said, his voice husky and daring. Happy cupped his cheeks in her hands and guided his lips back up to hers. She kissed him hard before pulling away.

"I can't, Toby. Not yet." She said, lowering her voice to a whisper. Toby takes a step back and frowns at her. He knows she doesn't want to hear this same speech again, but Toby is relentless and tries again anyway.

"Happy, I don't know what you're waiting for. Personally, I don't want to wait another second to let everyone know about us. I would shout it from the Hollywood sign if you'd let me. I love you, Happy Quinn, and I don't care if the world knows." He laughs and pecks her quickly on her lips a few times before noticing that she isn't laughing along. Her face looks stern, like she wants to say something but she can't find the words. So Toby continues, this time taking a much more serious and heartfelt approach.

"I want to hold you and kiss you all the time. I don't want to keep hiding from our friends. Telling them won't change anything, Happy, except make it easier to kiss you because we wouldn't have to keep sneaking around and worrying who sees." He brushes her hair from her shoulder and moves to kiss her neck, but she ducks out of the way and steps out from against the wall.

"Even if we did tell them I wouldn't let you kiss me in front of them."

"You say that now, but I know you wouldn't be able to resist." He said with a smirk. She rolled her eyes at him, apparently not finding the comment amusing.

"I'm serious right now, Toby. They can't know yet. I don't want them treating us differently because of this." She lowered her eyes to the ground. Toby attempted to grab her hand but she pulled it away.

"What is 'this' anyway? At first it was just a few hook-ups here and there, but now I'm feeling like it's bigger than that. And Happy, I want it to be bigger than that. I've always wanted it to be bigger than that. You know that." Said Toby, taking a step closer to her again. She remained frowning but she looked up and let him wrap his arms around her in a tight hug. She let her head rest against his chest, uncrossing her arms and linking them together again around his lower back. He tilted her chin up to him and kissed it gingerly, soft and letting it linger before speaking again.

"I get why you didn't want the team to know when we were just hooking up, but now that it's something more, keeping this a secret is just getting in the way. If we stopped hiding, I'd be able to admire you in the ways you deserve. I know that commitment scares you and I know why you like this secret. The longer nobody knows, the longer it remains a temporary situation, so you want to hide this for as long as possible. But the fact is, we can't keep going on like this. They're bound to find out, so we might as well just be honest about it." He felt her shift uncomfortably, possibly looking to escape his embrace, but when he pulled his head back to look her in the eyes, she moved up to meet his lips with hers again. She had to stand up on her toes to reach him at this angle.

She lowered her heels to the ground again and returned her head to his chest. He kissed her forehead a few times before resting his chin on the top of her head and tightening his grip around her waist. When she finally speaks, it's barely above a whisper and almost to herself, but she still makes it clear that Toby needs to hear it.

"To tell you the truth, I've been waiting all day for 2:45. I don't like PDA, but I'd be lying if I said it wouldn't be easier if everyone knew. Besides, it will be nice not to have to answer to Paige when she asks where I take off to for twenty minutes at a time. I'm sure she's noticed that we're always missing together."

Toby feels excitement fill him again. "Exactly. Everyone is already catching on. There's just no point in being afraid of how our friends will react. What's important is us. And knowing our friends, they'll be more than thrilled that the inevitable has finally occurred." He leans in to kiss her again, to calm her obvious discomfort at the prospect of telling their friends (and feeling quite proud that he earned a laugh from her at the word inevitable), but they both jump apart when a car honks as it passed the alleyway. Happy takes another step away from Toby and waits as her heartbeat returns to its normal speed.

"And if we weren't hiding back here we wouldn't be honked at by passing strangers." He said. She crosses her arms and looks up at him. Finally, with a heavy sigh, she throws her hands on her hips.

"Alright then, Doc, you win. Now how do you purpose we tell them?"

"Oh, I have a plan," said Toby, wagging his eyebrows and flashing her his signature grin. He grabs Happy's wrist and pulls her into the garage without another word.

"Hey guys, come quick! It's an emergency!" Toby shouts as he takes his long strides to the kitchen, Happy in tow. She's red-faced and breathing hard already, clearly nervous and confused about being dragged across the garage by the behaviorist. Walter, Paige, and Sylvester are all on their feet in seconds, hurrying into the kitchen with concerned frowns and worried glances.

"What's the matter?" Paige asks when they're all together. Toby doesn't hesitate at all, but instead whips his arm around Happy's waist, pulling her as close as he can get her and planting a deep, long kiss on her lips. When he lets her go, Happy stands still in shock and has to blink a few times, catching her breath as jaws drop at the sight of the couple. Toby turns to the team again, smirking with confidence and satisfaction.

"Happy and I are an item now."


End file.
